Apparatus for treating photographic films.



l. E. CRABTREEu APPARATUS FOR TREATI NG PHGTOGRAPHIC HLMS.

APPLICATIO'N-{ILED JAN. l5* V916- 2 SHEETS-SHEET Patanted May l5, 19X?.

LQQQD Xga 1. l. CRABTREE. APPARATUS FOR TREATING PHooGRAPHIc mms.

APPUCATION FlLED IAN. 15. 1916. Liggsgggm Yatented May 15, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- k N N JOHN I. CRSBTREE, ROCHESTER,

n sans ra.

NEW YORK, SSIGNOR T0 EASTMAN KODAK COM- Ion.

PANY, 0F ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CRPORATION 0F .NEl/V YORK.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS.

Original application led May 11, 1914, Serial No. 837,961.

Specification of Letters Patent.

y Patenten nay is, rei a.. Divided and this application led January 15,

1916. Serial No. 72,194.

To all 'whom it may concern: I

Be it known that l, JOHN l. CRABTREE, of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, new and useful lmprovements in Apparatusfor Treating Photographic Films; Aand l do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the'same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to photography and more particularly toflexible photographic lm, and it has for its object to provide animproved and eiiicient apparatus for protecting one side of a Elm whenit is desired to make a liquid or other application to the other side,exclusively. A further object of the invention is to provide for thetreatment in the manner ,indicated of long strips of film, such asmotion picture strips, the improvements being particularly applicablewhen it is desired to dye the two faces separately so that they maypresent a combination of color values to transmitted light. To these andother ends the invenl tion resides in certain improvements andcombinations of partsall as will be hereinafter more fully described,the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of thespecication.

ln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus adapted for use intreating photographic film and constructed in accordance with andillustrating one embodiment of my invention;

F ig. 2 is a. transverse section thereof, taken substantially on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1;y

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentarysectional view taken substantially onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and

F ig. il is an enlarged longitudinalcentral section taken substantiallyon the line 4--4 of F ig. 2.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

This application is a division of my rior application for Patent No.1,168,286, ated January 18, 1916, in which l claim the method oftreating ilm as practised in operations that may involve the use of thisor similar apparatus and the purpose of this have invented certainadditional application is to claim the mechanical structure disclosed inthey said original application. y

ln this View, and referring more particularly tothe drawings,Aindicates, generally,

,a preferably semi-cylindrical tank'or conta1ner in the end standards 1of which is journaled at 2 a hollow shaft B, carrying a drum C.Continuations of the standards .l constitute supporting legs for thetank, while the `upper ends are preferably slotted, as at d, clear tothe top, permitting the quick removal of the shaft B from the journalbearings 2 when required. The drum C is hollow and the shaft Bpreferably runs entirely therethrough, being provided on the interiorwith suitable openings 5 for the dow of compressed air admitted from apipe 6 through a check valve at one of the projecting ends 8 of theshaft. rlhe pipe 6 may represent any suitably controlled source of Huidpressure supply.

The framework of the drum C is, inthe present instance, comprised byimperforate circular heads 9 on the peripheries of ,which are securedthe ends of slats v10, lt is the intention that duid be ,permitted toescape or to communicate its pressure through or past these slats forwhich purpose they may be perforated at intervals, but l prefer, as

shown in the resent instance Ato form naro row slots or passages 11between them by spacing them slig tly from each other, as shown. rlhisslotted I periphery is completely covered by a continuous sheet of soft,elastic and non-absorbent material 12 such as dental rubber. rlhecovering lies loosely upon the periphery and is secured only at the endswhere the margins 13 of the cylindrical sheet are clamped by means ofplates 14 and screws 15 to the heads 9.

lt will thus be seen that when airor other fluid under pressure isadmitted to the interior of the drum through the pipe t and hollow shaftB, the covering 12 will be inilated and will swell out beyond contactwith the frame of the drum. lt is so shown in F ig. 4;- while in JFig. 2it is shown before inflation where it hugs the drum frame. ln order toprevent the thin rubber from blowing out or becoming loosened or undulydistended at in the present instance, or any suitable e the presentmachine,

lof the film convolutions, bulgin means ofvexhaust control may beutilized.

The present improvements, as before stated, are -particularly applicableto the treatment of photographic film in. strips and particularly thegreater lengths of motiony picture film. Taking for examplefa process oftreating motion picture strips'for the projection of pictures in color,it is desired jto dye one side of the stri exclusively red and the otherside exclusively to perform this operation with the aid of I wind thestrip, indicated at D spirally upon shown in Fig. 1, with the proximateedges of adjacent convolutions slightly separated, the covering byreason of an absence of pressure in the interior of the drum. One end ofthe film may have attached thereto a yoke 18 that is initiallyengagedpver a hook 19 on the drum to anchor it and the winding the otherend may be fastened down with a strip of adhesive tape 20 to preventunwinding or slippage in the convolutions, or other means may beemployed at both ends for like purposes. Air or other duid pressure isthen admitted to the interior of the drum in the manner described, andto a reasonable extent. The immediate result is Bthat the covering 12.becomes inflated and forces its fluid tight, clinging, surface securelyagainst the under surfaces forth slightly between the latter to lock othe entrance of iiuid in a definite manner at 'the edges. The dye is Ato such a depth as to partially submerge the'drum and the latter rotatedby means of a crank 21, or otherwise, carrying' every portion of theperiphery and hence of the strip D to immersion in the dye, theouter'surface only being exposed thereto. The film may be dried whilestill on the drum with the latter inflated and then removed, reappliedin a reverse position with the dyed surface protected and the clearsurface exposed and These leaders Will thereby yone or two convolutionsandconstitute the green, and in order the drum C, as

lof a yfilm strip,

12 being deflated at the time at the completion of then Vplaced in thetank.

, parata@ to the rewinding.

Of course, there is bound to be ineffective protection to the extremeends -of the strips and it is therefore preferable to attach `leaderscarrying the fastening devices 18 and 20 to the .film body to be treatedat each end. These may be composed of short pieces of spoiled filmorother material of corresponding size temporarily joined up. to thefilm body by adhesive tape, for instance.

form the 'portion of the Whole strip that lrest upon thev inexpan'siblelend bands 16. I claim as my invention:

1. ln an apparatus of the character described, the combination with arigid hollow i drum adapted to take the winding pressurey of anouterelastic'and nonabsorbent coverlng therefor against which thefilm iswound, said drum being adapted for the introduction of fluid underpressure to expandthe covering and cause it to intimately contact withthe under surface of the film in a fluid tight manner.

2. In an apparatus`of the character described, the combination with acylindrical rigid hollow drum having a slatted periphery adapted totakethe winding pressure of a film strip, of an outer covering of dentalrubber thereon against which the lm is wound and means for introducingiiuid. under pressure to the interior of the dr'um to expand thecovering and cause it to inti- 'mately contact with the under surface ofthe film in a fluid tight manner.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with aperforate rigid`hollow drum having a slatted periphery adapted to takethe winding pressure of a film strip, of an outer elastic andnon-absorbent covering therefor against which the lni is wound and whichis adapted to be expanded against the lm by fluid pressure within, thedrum, and a flexible but`nonelastic body connecting the covering to thedrum at the ends of the latter. 1

v JOHN I. CRABTREE. Witnesses: P. E. KENNETH Mms,

Cialis.y E.

